CA Final Topper Clears Exam in One Sitting, Makes Chennai Proud

Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All

Chennai /  Vijayawada :

A 23-year-old BCom graduate from Chennai, James John Britto, has emerged the national topper in his maiden attempt in the final Chartered Accountant exam, the results of which were announced on Sunday. Trailing him was Mohan Kumar Nagolu from Thottamledu, a non-descript hamlet under Chodavaram village panchayat near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district in Andhra, who emerged second.

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A resident of Mogappair, Britto completed his graduation in Loyola College. The final exam of one of the most toughest and rigorous professional courses in the world was conducted in November. Britto’s overall score was 595 out of 800 (74.38 per cent) which secured him the first rank in the country. The CA exams are divided into three levels — Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and the Final Examination.

“After clearing the foundation exams (CPT), I started preparing for the intermediate exams (IPCC). Since I did not wish to discontinue, I was preparing for the IPCC alongside my UG course,” said Britto.

On strategies he adopted to clear the exam, which people with even five to 10 years of professional CA experience find tough, he said, “I stuck to my basic plan of studying hard for 10-12 hours on an average everyday and this eventually peaked during the last few weeks of preparation.”

When asked about his future plans, one thing Britto was clear about was that he wanted to work in the city.

“As of now, I am looking at employment and have kept options open regarding the nature of the company. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t prefer working abroad as I love working here in the city,” said Britto, son of A Raja, a leading chartered accountant.

His father being in the field for nearly 30 years was one of the factors that Britto said contributed to his great success. “My father, who is in the same industry for close to 30 years, helped me a lot during the preparations and I would say his role was crucial throughout the CA exam journey.” Of the 42, 469 candidates who took up the exam last November, only 2,440 (5.75%) managed to clear the exam.

Nagolu Mohan Kumar from Tirupati and Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata secured the second and third rank in the final exam with scores 572 (71. 5 per cent) and 566 (70.75 per cent) respectively. When Mohan received a call from Manoj Fadnis, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), informing him about his results, Mohan Kumar was literally on cloud nine.

“My happiness knew no bounds when Manoj Sir called me up and told me that I had secured the all-India second rank. The call was immediately followed by another one, this time from M Devaraj Reddy, vice-president of ICAI. I was thrilled and shared the news with my family,” Mohan Kumar told Express over the phone. Mohan, who pursued the CA course right from Intermediate, took coaching from Superwhiz in Vijayawada and did his articleship with Datla and Associates in Hyderabad. He attributed his success in the CA final to hard work. “Since November, four months prior to the commencement of exams, I had been studying 12 to 13 hours a day, including Sundays,” he said, opining that systematic preparation is the key for success in CA exams.

Mohan Kumar’s father N Nagaraju Reddy is a farmer, while his brother Bhanuprakash has completed his BTech. Kumar’s entire family celebrated his success with the villagers also joining them.

Going forward, Mohan Kumar said, he wanted to work with a good MNC for three-four years before going for own practice.

Meanwhile, Superwhizz principal S Venkateswara Rao said along with Mohan Kumar, the institute had bagged three more ranks within the first 50 ranks. J Harsha Sai bagged the 7th rank, M Swathi the 32nd and P Pradeep Rai secured the 50th rank at the national level. The ICAI also released results for the CPT exams conducted during the December 2015 on Sunday. The overall pass percentage for this exam was around 34.45 percent as only 34,129 out of the 99,077 candidates who appeared for it cleared the test.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 18th, 2016

After honey, it’s cashew’s turn to go organic

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
A ripe cashew nut from which organic cashew will be extracted by the tribal people of Rampachodavaram. —PHOTO: B.V.S. BHASKAR / The Hindu
A ripe cashew nut from which organic cashew will be extracted by the tribal people of Rampachodavaram. —PHOTO: B.V.S. BHASKAR / The Hindu

A.P. tribals to get loans and help to grow the crop in big way.

The Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC), leader in marketing organic honey, is now venturing into organic cashew with the support of the Integrated Tribal Development Corporation (ITDA), Rampachodavaram, in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

K.V. Chakradhar Babu, who took charge as Project Officer of ITDA, gathered statistics on cashew farming in the agency area. Cashew farming is the major source of income in the region. He also met tribal farmers during Sunday shandies.

The ITDA is making efforts to set up Organic Agriculture Producers’ Societies at the village level and develop them like Dwacra groups at the mandal level.

Payments will be made in bio-metric system and technological partners will be set up.

Loans will be sanctioned by the GCC and ITDA will also extend support for to societies.

“Farmers can store their produce in godowns. Purchasing centres will be set up in villages apart from existing sales points. Tribal farmers can make use of organic certificates to avoid problems in transporting products from procurement centres to clusters,” said Mr. Babu.

MoU signed

The GCC has signed an MoU with the Kerala-based Olam Company, which will give organic certificates to tribals and it will pay a premium of Rs.2 per each kg of organic product for the farmers who are having the certificate.

Mr. Babu said cashew crop was cultivated by tribals in Rampachodavaram on about 40,000 acres and they were not getting profitable price owing to lack of proper marketing. In 4-5 mandals the cashew cultivation was high.

Initially, area would be earmarked for cultivating 10,000 tonnes of organic cashew.

Businessmen’s view

However, businessmen are differing with the idea of ‘organic cashew’.

“We support the idea of eliminating middlemen between tribals and industries. However, there is no such thing called organic or inorganic in cashew as cashew gardens will not need more pesticides. Organic tag is only to create brand image,” said Appareddy, a businessman at Rajanagaram in the Rajahmundry rural area.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by B.V.S. Bhaskar / Rampachodavaram (A.P.) / January 11th, 2016

Telugu man to lead Indian blind cricket team

Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Sports
Ajay Kumar Reddy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.- File Photo
Ajay Kumar Reddy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.- File Photo

In a rare honour for a Telugu cricketer, Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy has been given the honour of leading Indian Blind cricket team in the Asia Cup T-20 cricket championship to be held in Kochi from January 17 to 24.

The 25-year-old has already made a mark in this form of cricket featuring in 10 ODIs and 16 T-20s for India with a career-high point of being vice-captain of the national team which won the T-20 World Cup in 2012 in Bengaluru.

For the record, Ajay Kumar was also a member of the Indian blind cricket team that won the fourth ODI World Cup, first for India for the blind in South Africa in 2014. Incidentally, he was also the ‘player of the series’ in the T-20 World Championship.

This gifted cricketer was born in Gurzala in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and currently working with the State Bank of Hyderabad in Nagarjunasagar after graduating from Nizam College in Telugu literature. “I am confident that this Indian team will lift the first Asia Cup for blind,” Ajay Kumar informed The Hindu.

This right-handed fast bowler and top-order batsman has an enviable record in T-20 cricket scoring 676 runs in 11 innings besides taking 27 wickets in 15 innings.

Ajay Kumar is one of the main stays of the Indian team having made his ODI debut in 2010 and the T-20 in 2012 with a terrific record of three ‘man of the series’ awards so far in all three formats.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by T. Karnakar Reddy / Nalgonda – January 07th, 2016